With country watching, Ryan to focus on personal side
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Paul Ryan wants to talk policy. Mitt Romney's team wants his No. 2 to focus more on his immigrant family and small-town values.
The top of the ticket is certain to win out as the Wisconsin congressman accepts the vice presidential nomination of his party Wednesday night. Ryan will deliver a speech to thousands of delegates at the Republican convention, and millions of viewers watching from home, that will be unlike most Ryan tends to favor. This one is likely to be heavy on personality and lighter on policy.
Ryan's willingness to focus on his personal story and play down policy is the latest example that of him deferring to Romney's preferences. As Ryan puts it, Romney is "the boss." Not the other way around.
Ryan and his team, a mix of longtime aides and new advisers, have spent a chunk of the past few weeks writing - and re-writing - the speech. Drafts have been emailed from his campaign plane and his kitchen table in Janesville, Wis., to speechwriters in Tampa and top Romney advisers at the Boston headquarters.
"Words matter a lot and I'm putting a lot of effort into them," said Ryan, a former speechwriter to 1996 vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp and former Education Secretary William Bennett.
Early versions were scrapped and adjusted to include bits of Ryan's natural, easygoing speaking style. In between campaign events and daily workouts, Ryan has been working to put his own voice into the drafts.
At campaign events, Ryan has tended to favor policy over his personal story. From Ohio to Virginia to Florida, he talks more often about the nation's debt and deficit than his own life as a congressional aide who became a congressman at age 28. The 42-year-old is more comfortable citing Congressional Budget Office statistics than real people.
Romney's aides want that to change. Advisers are pushing Ryan toward more personal territory.
The hope among Romney's team is that the nation gets to know Ryan's story, one they say working-class voters could relate to. Left unsaid is the fact that Ryan's policy positions, specifically his controversial budget proposals, have caused headaches for Romney and dominated the storyline of the campaign since he was named the running mate.
On Wednesday, Ryan plans to talk not just about Romney's promises to repair the economy and Obama's failures to do it, but also about his own upbringing. A message of small-town values and self-reliance is set to play a prominent role in his speech.
Ryan offered a preview of that message Monday at the Janesville, Wis., high school where he cheered for classmates two decades ago. He spoke of his ancestors' journey in the 1850s from Ireland to Wisconsin. Reflecting on more recent history, Ryan spoke of his time in the town when he said neighbors took care of each other.
"What we do in our communities is we look out for one another," he said. "That's what's so special. That's what government can't replace or displace."
Look for him also to acknowledge the economic troubles that have hit Janesville, a city that has become synonymous with Ryan's Midwestern appeal. On Monday, he said the city's response to the rough economy is what the United States should do on a grand scale.
"That's the kind of thing we need to do is pick ourselves up, help people in need, give them the job training skills they have, flourish entrepreneurs and small businesses so that people can get back on their feet," he said.
Aides are seeking to lower expectations, saying not to expect a blockbuster speech like the one 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin delivered. Instead, Ryan is likely to paint a picture of himself as a reasonable governing partner for Romney.
On Tuesday, asked if he was ready as he boarded his plane to Tampa, Ryan simply said: "I am." The usually media-friendly politician ignored reporters' other questions. En route to the convention, he huddled with senior adviser Dan Senor and senior aide Conor Sweeney. As Ryan read through the speech again, he dictated changes to Sweeney, who typed them into an Apple laptop.
By that point, aides said, the speech was almost finished, but Ryan wanted to put some final polishes on it and make sure it is to his liking. He knows he will not get a second chance to have this wide of an introduction.
The top of the ticket is certain to win out as the Wisconsin congressman accepts the vice presidential nomination of his party Wednesday night. Ryan will deliver a speech to thousands of delegates at the Republican convention, and millions of viewers watching from home, that will be unlike most Ryan tends to favor. This one is likely to be heavy on personality and lighter on policy.
Ryan's willingness to focus on his personal story and play down policy is the latest example that of him deferring to Romney's preferences. As Ryan puts it, Romney is "the boss." Not the other way around.
Ryan and his team, a mix of longtime aides and new advisers, have spent a chunk of the past few weeks writing - and re-writing - the speech. Drafts have been emailed from his campaign plane and his kitchen table in Janesville, Wis., to speechwriters in Tampa and top Romney advisers at the Boston headquarters.
"Words matter a lot and I'm putting a lot of effort into them," said Ryan, a former speechwriter to 1996 vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp and former Education Secretary William Bennett.
Early versions were scrapped and adjusted to include bits of Ryan's natural, easygoing speaking style. In between campaign events and daily workouts, Ryan has been working to put his own voice into the drafts.
At campaign events, Ryan has tended to favor policy over his personal story. From Ohio to Virginia to Florida, he talks more often about the nation's debt and deficit than his own life as a congressional aide who became a congressman at age 28. The 42-year-old is more comfortable citing Congressional Budget Office statistics than real people.
Romney's aides want that to change. Advisers are pushing Ryan toward more personal territory.
The hope among Romney's team is that the nation gets to know Ryan's story, one they say working-class voters could relate to. Left unsaid is the fact that Ryan's policy positions, specifically his controversial budget proposals, have caused headaches for Romney and dominated the storyline of the campaign since he was named the running mate.
On Wednesday, Ryan plans to talk not just about Romney's promises to repair the economy and Obama's failures to do it, but also about his own upbringing. A message of small-town values and self-reliance is set to play a prominent role in his speech.
Ryan offered a preview of that message Monday at the Janesville, Wis., high school where he cheered for classmates two decades ago. He spoke of his ancestors' journey in the 1850s from Ireland to Wisconsin. Reflecting on more recent history, Ryan spoke of his time in the town when he said neighbors took care of each other.
"What we do in our communities is we look out for one another," he said. "That's what's so special. That's what government can't replace or displace."
Look for him also to acknowledge the economic troubles that have hit Janesville, a city that has become synonymous with Ryan's Midwestern appeal. On Monday, he said the city's response to the rough economy is what the United States should do on a grand scale.
"That's the kind of thing we need to do is pick ourselves up, help people in need, give them the job training skills they have, flourish entrepreneurs and small businesses so that people can get back on their feet," he said.
Aides are seeking to lower expectations, saying not to expect a blockbuster speech like the one 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin delivered. Instead, Ryan is likely to paint a picture of himself as a reasonable governing partner for Romney.
On Tuesday, asked if he was ready as he boarded his plane to Tampa, Ryan simply said: "I am." The usually media-friendly politician ignored reporters' other questions. En route to the convention, he huddled with senior adviser Dan Senor and senior aide Conor Sweeney. As Ryan read through the speech again, he dictated changes to Sweeney, who typed them into an Apple laptop.
By that point, aides said, the speech was almost finished, but Ryan wanted to put some final polishes on it and make sure it is to his liking. He knows he will not get a second chance to have this wide of an introduction.
Paul Ryan currently is the best thing to happen to this country. The young people should be glad he is fighting for their future. He understands the dark cloud of the country's deficit problem and keeping the Social Security program solvent. It's simple math and the guy knows how to add and subtract. Â
@ObsidianOne - I disagree. He appears to be focused on concern for the wealthy, not the middle class or the poor. His voting record indicates that he is more influenced by lobbyists than constituency of real people, working, paying taxes and trying to survive.
@Smokin Bear  Lobbyists? I heard he has become wealthy since becoming a politician.
Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! :-)
@Smokin Bear  Wow...your thinking is really warped. You might want to do the math with the deficit spending right now. If DC does not get control of spending a trillion dollars a year over the amount of money they take in, nothing will matter including the middle class and the poor. Get some thoughts of your own instead of being a mouthpiece for stupidity.
 @ObsidianOne  @Smokin You dodged the voting record. Big surprise.
Interesting that you are not capable of civility.Â
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Simply because we do not share the same viewpoint does not entitle you to engage in insulting vitriolic attacks.
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It says more about you than you know.
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Have a good day.
 I sure cant wait for the campaign season to be over with so all these leftest trolls can go back to moms basement.
 KOMO boards are now full of far left wing spam.
@CrankyPanky I like the "leftest" people. They care about things that the right doesn't.
 @CrankyPanky spam?  kinda hard to mass email a comment board, but I would not expect some whiny coot to understand this kind of thing.
AC - Your response explains some things. We are coming at this issue from different sides of the coin. I retired a little over a year ago at the age of 67 so my whole life I have contributed to SS and not had to think about it. I also participated in company savings programs. SS has never missed a payment and I don't think anyone of my generation ever gave a thought to the idea of SS going away. It isn't perfect and doesn't meet all needs but it is something that everyone who worked could count on.Â
Your generation has tough choices to make. Especially in this economy when a good education doesn't necessarily mean a good job. With so many underemployed or not employed it is going to be tough to stick to a decision to put money away for retirement 40 years from now. I don't envy your generation at all.Â
@Darn it! Sadly, it's the boomers, your generation, who didn't fix the structural problems in SS and Medicare & Medicaid, back when it would have been relativly painless, and kept electing "leaders" who didn't want to touch it because you didn't let them know that it was OK, and you didn't tell the media to research and tell the truth about the numbers. Maybe you, personally, did your best, but the boomers collectivly have spent their childres national wealth on themsleves by borrowing from future generations to buy current programs and votes.
The American dream under the republicans....
http://youtu.be/acLW1vFO-2Q
@cptmac11Â Â If I ever decide to take real life advice from a comedian George Carlin would be at the top of my list. Until that day comes I'll make my own decisions based on facts not punch lines.
 @cptmac11 so true!Â
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 @Ey777c Apparently you don't read mitts bible.....
Regardless of my political beliefs -- I can't see Romney winning. Many fiscal conservatives are simply sick and tired of the same old game. This lesser of two evils bit has got to stop. One wants to spend lots of money on the military, the other on social programs -- policies over the last 12 years have proven that both methods don't work! Anybody remember how the Soviet Union collapsed? It began with an unsustainable infrastructure and not enough resources to supply it! The big problem with all of these things we want to spend government money on is that the money has to come from somewhere and no one wants to pay for it. Something's gotta give -- that fact simply will not change.
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If you encourage production, creativity, and innovation -- you can create a stronger tax base to pull your funds from. Simply pinching people for more money will only create more reliance on already unsustainable systems. And IMO the best way to do that is to reduce the strain on new, small, and mid-size businesses. Competition is GOOD! Hamstringing people with insane amounts of regulations only benefits big businesses and creates market monopolies because they are the only orgs that can afford to abide by those rules and regulations.
 @acmariner99 So economy is consumer driven ????
And giving tax cuts to the rich create NO jobs what so ever...
Only people Working and paying taxes can make this economy strong again....
This is true.....Â
 @cptmac11 I never said tax cuts to the rich -- (and see below, somebody already posted that the top 5% or so of income earners provide a very large percentage of our income taxes (income vs. wealth keep that in mind)) I said deregulating small businesses and make it easier for them to compete with the big ones. Economy is supply and demand and producer vs. consumer. Competition is the driving force behind our economy.
Scary - this nutball could end up being our next VP. I hope that people start doing their own research and vote their conscience.Â
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So far, neither Romney nor Ryan have discussed or proposed any real plan for creating jobs or sustainable healthcare. They keep making general statements like, "We'll fix this country."  I'm thinking with what, a monkeywrench or were they talking about neutering? I would like to hear what their actual agenda is, with regard to "fixing."
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I would rather have four more years with Obama at the helm than risk acquiring a new administration under Romney.
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For all of Obama's faults, people have to realize that he has, from day one,  been facing an overwhelming mess when he got the reigns after the Bush administration's eight years of chaos. Rome wasn't built in a day and no one should have expected Obama to clean up the disaster rapidly, especially when he's had to grapple with a resistant congress and hurdling over corporate - special interest lobbyists.Â
 @Smokin Bear "So far, neither Romney nor Ryan have discussed or proposed any real plan for creating jobs or sustainable healthcare."...
Â
Well...Willard DID say that he thinks that people who HAD health care should not be denied when they switch plans...IF they HAD it LONG ENOUGH! Not a word about those who have NOT HAD coverage...apparently they can just sink in the soup.
But have no fear - Willard will let us know what his "plan" is - sometime after the election...hopefully before he finishes his 2011 tax returns...
@OrcasThunder - Love it. Your sarcasm is not lost on me. :-)Â
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In an unrelated story, NWCN reported today that "...some people were ejected from the RNC last night for throwing nuts at an African American camera operator and making derogatory comments."Â
My first thought was, "That's funny, I don't remember seeing Barbara Bush in the audience."Â
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Have a good evening!Â
Agreed! No kidding!
 @Smokin Bear "Your sarcasm is not lost on me"
We can only hope that it IS "sarcasm"...
@Smokin Bear Then you are NOT paying attention. Ryan has proposed a realistic budget every year for a several years. The last three Obama budgets have been voted down UNANIMOUSLY, and the Senate leaders have not even bothered to propose one of their own. The ACA takes money from Medicare, double-counts it, pushes a lot of spending into the "out years," and will (is) creating a new bureaucracy to regulate health care (but please note, bureaucrats get paid, but don't *deliver* care, so the only way to save money is to cut on actual delivery). O has made problems vastly worse by not seriously addressing the fundamental issues, which is too much debt, too much spending, warped incentives, to much regulation, and to much legal uncertainty.
@RN1
So this reality is not news worthy???
Consider this tidbit:The filibuster also known as cloture was invoked 63 times in 2009 and 2010, by the republicans.
Which isnât just the most ever, itâs more than the sum total of instances from 1919 through 1982.Â
Wow they must really Hate America to destroy the economy like that...
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 @cptmac11  @RN1 Well said. They not only hate America but the middle working class in particular. They'll let the nation burn if it helps the corporations, millionaires, and billionaires.Â
@RN1Â - Well, as attributed to Voltaire, "I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend to the death your right to say it."
Â
 I disagree with you, but you have the right to your opinion.Â
Â
To clarify, I am paying attention, yet I, unlike you, have refrained from personal attacks in reply to your vitriol.Â
Â
Taking the time to study US history, in depth, may be of help toward acquiring a better understanding of the current siituation.Â
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All the best!
@Sid Vishess - My remarks were not directed at you. I was referring to Paul Ryan as a "nutball." That is my opinion of him, based on his voting record and his unrealistic view of how people survive in the real world.
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 Time for a reality check: You are a stranger online with no real involvment in my life.Â
 @RN1 That's just what the soldiers coming back from war said....
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@RN1 - Hmm.Â
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 So, what you're saying is that when the issue of economic growth or healthcare are examined during this campaign, as a matter of debate between candidates, it is not an actual issue due to your selective view that everything is Obama's fault but Romney will not need to face the same challenges, or if elected, answer for his decisions?
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Hmm. Have a good day.
Â
@Sid Vishess - Odd that you would take such exception to comments I made about a candidate with whom you may or may not have aligned yourself.Â
Â
Again, you are entitled to your opinion. Have a good day.
@Smokin Bear I was not aware that it was the purpose of the FedGov to create jobs or provide healthcare. If you read any of Ryans proposed budgets, any one of which got many more votes than ANY of Obamas in the last three years, you'll have a pretty good idea what his proposals are.
 @Smokin Bear Please feel to refute any of the points RN1 made. I hardly think that someone saying you are not paying attention is "vitriol."
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As to corporate interest, you have NOT been paying attention. The President and this administration have  time and time again done the bidding of special corporate interests  while dishing out the taxpayer loot to friends and bundlers.Â
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And please enlighten us as to the successful Executive accomplishments and economic knowledge that the President possesses.
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And calling comeone a "nutball?"
Â
Yeah, that  helps your  "arguments..."
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Oh yeah, Ryan who said that "rape is just another form of conception?" That guy? The guy that took Stimulus money five times and lied about it? Or the guy that "forgot" to disclose a 5 million dollar trust fund on his financial papers for two years, but fixed it to be VP? That guy? Â He's a soulless Ayn Rand devotee.. who is filthy rich, and cares nothing for anyone but himself. Â As hard as the GOP is trying with their multi-million dollar film set at their convention aimed solely to make him and Romney LIKABLE (this is confirmed information,) it won't help. Â It's the policies, stupid. Â Geez.. the guy even lied about driving the Oscar Meyer WEINERMOBILE!! Â He was not a driver.. he got to take it around a parking lot once. He's a DC insider who has sponsored 8 extreme anti-woman bills in Congress. Â He's a tea party (aka Koch brother's millions neuvo John Bircher) darling. Â Can't make Eddie Munster likable. He's vain and vapid like the rest of the ticket.Â
@DT  Eddie Munster! I knew he reminded me of someone.
The Republicans have lots of money, and money talks. No one should assume that the best man will win in November. People need to do what they can before it's too late.
 @DT Maybe they should have bought those Greek columns on e-bay from the DNC. Film sets are SUCH bad taste...
 @Sid Vishess  @DT Really? Well, now we know what settles for an argument of "substance" from here on out.
@DT - Good for you! Well written and nicely said.Â
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@RN1 - That was a really snotty, uncalled for remark. DT has strong feelings about the issue and expressed an opinion.Â
Â
Get a mirror. There is no excuse for personal attacks or rudeness just because you don't agree with an opinion.
@RN1 - Mature, civil discourse is appreciated. Personal attacks are not, and when you choose that as a tactic of argument it destroys your credibility.
Â
Have a nice evening.
@Smokin Bear As a factual matter, it was NOT Ryan who recently said the disgraceful things about "legitimate rape," which has been roundly repudiated by the R party, *including* Ryan. Accusing Ryan of lying, with no support, and is a bald-faced lie (or at the very least, a gross misrepresentation - I'm not even sure to what he's referring) Calling Ryan "filthy rich" is ludicrous, especially considering there are more millionaires in the Dem party in congress than Rs. If he's referring to Romney, then his use of language is so terrible he's either not to smart, unbalanced, or really IS off his meds, or is just a REALLY bad writer, because it's nearly incoherent.
The only thing I'd agree with is yes, it IS about policies - R&R are about individual rights, responsibilities, actions, and contributions, and O is about big government, more government, and dependency and bankruptcy.
 @RN1  @DT Being called vain and vapid from the Party of Joe Biden? Ouch!
@Sid Vishess - The comment was not directed at you.Â
 @RN1  @DT I know I know the truth hurts...
And it IS reality when it's the truth....
Romney made a serious mistake taking this Tea Party clown as his VP... that is extremely unpopular with the masses and don't know about the rest of you all but I blame that tea party for the reason why we did not have a deficit solution and dragging it out until the last minute where our nations credit inturn got downgraded... I am not looking too hard at these guys but they still sound like total opposites which when together cancel each other out!
@Freespeech Or, maybe not. A LOT of the fiscally conservative base were VERY skeptical of Romney, and were not at ALL excited about voting for him, UNTIL this pick. We'll know soon enough. I'm not going to predict a landslide for R&R, but I AM predicting a win. If not, then we can expect the US to be a worse muddle than now by a LONG shot.
 @RN1 Well the issue with that is it takes time to fix a problem that was eight years in the making....so naturally it is going to take at least that long to correct it... I'm biased to the 'R' ticket pretty much as they signed all that extra medicare commitments without having a plan to pay for it... then they cut taxes... then they raided the surplus and blew it and then some by gettign involved in a aprt of the world we have no business in... Afganistan sure... but we have no business in IRAQ now we are stuck there pissing money that could be spent here in America trying to stabilize a country that is going to take who knows HOW LONG to actually take care of themselves without US backing... that in my mind is 100% on the laps of Bush and Chenny along with the blood of the soldiers we have lost. I am not about to give the reigns back to a party who started this big mess in the first place expecting them to make it better when it obviously shows they are favoring the private secotr over the people they are supposed to represent!
@Smokin Bear Radio host R. Rhodes has talked about how the Republicans prefer to investigate the underwear of the Dems rather than focus on the real business of the country. Hilary simply remarked about the difficulty of keeping Bill on the porch.
@cptmac11 - Yeah, that was nasty. Scooter Libby is out of prison by now, isn't he? I could be wrong but I understood that the actual source was Karl Rove.Â
 @RN1 but we cannot lie with the fact there was a surplus with Clinton...
@Freespeech But people CAN lie with, and mis-represent and mis-intrepet numbers.
 @RN1 The chart for bush is scewed though as the economy was at the cliff of callapse... which then led to the huge bailouts of wall street by Obama... so his record debt spending to me is moot because thigns may have gotten worse if it did not happen... persoanlly I would have rather seen the house of card collapse so we could rebuild from a more solid foundation instead of pouring a bunch o fglue and duct tape of good intentions on it...
 @RN1 Well you mentioned Reganomics not I... the real kicker is the initial cuts the Regan did were in fact too deep and ultimately those cuts had to be reversed also that lead to the onset of the USA becoming one of the biggest debtor nations with the record deficits of the time it was 900 billion and begame I think 2.8 trillion... that si not prosperity to me... clinton actually was dogin well fixing that....
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Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaganomics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_by_U.S._presidential_terms
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....the numbers do not lie....
 @RN1  @Smokin So what part of ousting a CIA covert operator and put her life and others in danger( Treason) to start a fake war to steal oil???Â
@Smokin Bear
We had a surplus due to a whole set of fortuitous circumstances, not JUST Clinton. We had the growth of the 90s (partly the result of Reganomics, partly the once-in-history tech boom, and other cyclical and coincidental economic things), the peace-dividend from the fall of the iron curtain, a R house (after the debacle of the D takeover in '92), as well as a smart / politically-savvy Clinton who moderated to the middle after then '94 R takeover of the House. If it were not for 9/11 and the popping of the tech bubble, Bush would not have been nearly so aggressive on spending on many fronts, and the house / senate would have been much less willing to go along with him.
@Freespeech - LOL....yeah he probably had more "fun" at work, I agree.Â
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There are plenty of presidents in our history who did the exact same things - they just didn't get caught, and/or lied about it. LBJ comes to mind, JFK was famous for his 'meetings', FDR had a mistress or two...Nobody's perfect.
:-)
 @Smokin Bear With that note I just say I was more annoyed with hearing about the guy having more fun doing his job than I was doing mine... His faults did not waive my opinion that he did do a good job while in office overall with the things that the public really needed him to do... what he did in private to me or whatever happens daily in people who are not president...his one mistake was lying about it when it got to where it was, that was a black eye but again I say he did a good job....
So this reality is not news worthy???
Consider this tidbit:The filibuster also known as cloture was invoked 63 times in 2009 and 2010, by the republicans.
Which isnât just the most ever, itâs more than the sum total of instances from 1919 through 1982.Â
Wow they must really Hate America to destroy the economy like that...
Â
@Freespeech - Excellent points. Well said.Â
Â
People too readily forget that when Bush was handed the Presidency, we had a federal surplus for the first time in decades under the guidance of Bill Clinton. Â
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W managed to p!ss it away in less than four years.Â
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Clinton certainly made mistakes - Presidents are also humans and fallible. But the Clinton years were financially better for a lot of people and Big Oil didn't have carte blanche to rape the consumers.
Â
I don't care who Clinton did or didn't sleep with, he was a good administrator while doing battle with Congress for most of his tenure.Â
 @RN1 Yes so if the problem was snowballing to an obvious issue and Clinton ensured we had a surplus for the first time in awhile. If those taxes woudl have remained intact we could have saved even more money and paid down the deficit!
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Why did bush think it was such a good idea to add more commitments to the already taxed systems. Best to say my friend if you are not at retirement age right now you can and should not depend on social security to support you in your older years, or medicare or medicade becuase the bloated healthcare system which is 'private' is getting so expensive that one major condition you survive the bill you get in the end will have you wishing you had died...just one of the main reasons I have a DNR becuase I refuse to incure massive healthcare debt and burden my family...the fact I have had to come to that realization is a glowing image of what is wrong with the government at large!
Â
... right now this country chews people up until they cannot be used no more and if you did not make enough to put away anything when you get older your better off just walking somewhere laying down and dying...because this country just cares about how much money they can make off per person... and that is Capitalism!
@Freespeech
The problems with SS, Medicare, Medicaid, Fanny & Freddy, military procurement, the Wall St banking problems, etc., have been DECADES in the making, not just the eight years of Bush. Blaming everything on him is a cop-out for not having any clue or competence to start making the hard choices need to get things fixed *starting* NOW. There is no previous president so bad that you can't propose a budget that gets at least ONE vote for it. O has had had three years (and an adoring media to spin his mis-steps) to lay out his plans in a way that makes sense, and so far it is all focused around more government programs, more regulations, more spending, more coercion, less freedom, less trust... basically, adopting the bad parts of the European model, and junking the best parts of the American model. Time for a chance, even if Romney isn't my preferred choice.
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(NOTE: I hate what the twitter-widget-garbage does to this editor and the comment system - bleg!)